Music activities
Students use a large number of
musical instrument apps to perform
using their iPod Touch. These include
drums, piano, leaf trombone, ocarina
and guitars. Many apps also allow the
students to practise rhythm patterns
and reading, and recognising pitch
notation. Examples of the apps used
are Kanon drums, Ocarina, Retro
synth, Pocket guitar, Note trainer and
Rhythm in reach.
Languages activities
A variety of apps are used by students
to learn and practise the correct
pronunciation of words and phrases in
many languages. They use the iTalk
app to record conversations between
themselves and then listen to these for
self-assessment. Examples of the apps
used are Word power and Indonesian
audio flashcards.
Peer tutoring activities
Years 5 and 6 students work with
Kindergarten students to complete a
wide variety of learning activities
(Figure 7). These include literacy and
numeracy, puzzles and reading books
on the iPod Touch. Examples of the
apps used are Shape builder,
TeacherMe: Kindergarten, The smelly
sprout, Preschool arcade.
Internet activities
Wireless access on the iPod Touch
allows for quick easy access to the
internet. Students in Years 5 to 8 and
staff love the fact that internet access
is in their pocket at all times. For staff,
the instant access to emails, without
having to login to a computer, is a
huge advantage.
Student response network
This app allows students to use the
iPod Touch as a buzzer to respond to
Stu's quiz boxes program, which is
freely available to NSW Departmental
schools (Figure 8).
Creative tasks
Students create mini movies that
feature pictures, narration and music.
These apps involve the use of
numerous critical and media literacy
skills including, surfing the net for
images, downloading and taking
screen shots to save images, editing
images, script writing and collating
and editing the movie. Examples of
the apps used are Reel director, Strip
designer, Sonic pics and PS express.
Graphic organisers
These apps help to collate information
into a variety of graphic organisers
such as mindmaps, SWOT analysis
and t-charts. Examples of the apps
used are Idea sketch, SWOT, T-Charts
and SimpleMindX.
Curriculum specific areas
Large numbers of apps are available to
support specific subject areas. Just a
few examples of the apps used are
Periodic table, 8 planets, World quiz
and Recipes.
Evidence of learning with
iPods
Many of the skills based apps have a
results page that keeps track of each
student's score/times and dates that
they have achieved a specific activity.
These can be saved on the iPods or
sent to teachers' email so that they can
keep track of each student's results.
Currently, data collection is occurring
across the program to formally
show the positive outcomes from the
use of the iPod Touch in classrooms
(Figure 9).
In general the enthusiastic engage-
ment of students using these devices
and the high standard of outcomes
achieved, especially in the creative
Scan Vol 30 No 2 May 2011
8
Figure 9 A variety of methods is available to
collect student work samples and results data
for evidence of learning
Figure 7 Peer tutoring with Vanessa and Abby
Figure 8 Michelle Roscarel and students use the iPod Touch with Student response network to
play Stu's quiz boxes